Flight Log: 7-7-26.

Four flights on the BigHorn 49! Successful buddy link of Spektrum DX8 and RadioMaster TX16S programmed before going to the field. Very easy process with the help of Gemini!

Son had some simulator time in the morning and did very well today on the real thing. About three nice gently left turns. He's learning to smooth out the controls and get his right and left corrections straight in the brain. A little taxing as well. Buddy box with the mono stereo link makes teaching so easy. Programmed to switch SH, which is a dead man switch. Once I let go of switch SH, I have control. I think my son likes it!

Notes: New DR and Expo worked well. Did not try flaps yet. Last flight dead sticked, forcing a down wind landing. Reduced timer to 4:15 from 5:00.

Last flight was with Dad. Enjoyed some simple clock-wise loose formation flights. 

Side View Mirrors.

Got a set of side view mirrors for the Crazy Cart from Amazon. Tagvo brand, never heard of them. Decent quality for $8. The hardest part was finding a mirror that will firmly attached to the small side rails. These use a silicone strap to secure it. Folds and swivels 360 degrees. Hope to improve his spatial awareness. 

OMP BigHorn 49.

First time flying in roughly 6 years today! Maiden flight for the OMP BigHorn 49 PNP. Ordered it about a month ago to get back in the hang of things and to use as a potential trainer for my 10 year old son. The build was straight forward.  CA in the horizontal stabilizer and then CA the three hinges of the rudder.  Horizontal stab was a little crooked but think I was able to correct it. Overall, great construction quality and clean covering job. PNP came with ESC, motor, and servos installed all for about $330. 

Got a new RadioMaster TX16x V2 4 in 1 transmitter too! First experience with open source. Very satisfied with the radio. Large touch screen and ergonomic grip. The gimbals could be a little taller for my pinch grip style. Programming was easier that I thought. Downloaded EdgeTX Companion app and got to programming. With the help of Gemini and the app wizard, I was able to get the programming done. As with any new tech, there is a bit of a learning curve. After a few hours of tinkering with the programming, I felt fairly confident with programming directly on the transmitter as well.

Four Admiral 3S 2200 lipos were purchased. Set timer for 5 minutes but it wasn't working for some reason. 

First flight was very squirrely. Lots of left trim needed. Second flight was better after increasing EXPO but I got a "low RF" warning from the transmitter. Spent a half hour trying to trouble shoot that. Gemini said might be normal glitch with the R88 RadioMaster receiver. Will research more. Third and fourth flight were more dialed in. Did not use flaps at all. Too much throw.  Need to reduce that. All landings successful.  

Brought my son to the field and met up with my dad at noon. Fun times to be back at the field and to spend time with both of them.

Got McDonald's drive through and washed the CRV after.

Update: Used a curve to reduce flap throws and still have down elevator mixed in. Reduced Weight (throw) of aileron, elevator, and rudder in Dual Rate mode. Attached RSSI (strength of signal), receiver battery value, and transmitter battery value widget. Attached personal pic of BigHorn on home screen! Very cool!

TX16S.

Can I Get An Encore?

These two RWB’s are by Pop Race and appear to be from the same casting, just different liveries. Same rims too! Love the quality and the colors really pop. Two exciting additions. 

Team RWB.

Couldn’t resist posting these excellent diecasts of the RWB team.  The matte black and white are sharp looking. The black one is made by Inno64 and the white is by Model Model (a new manufacturer to me). I think the Inno64 wins due to more scale details. But, both are great additions to the collection.

New Aquisitions.

The last five 911’s that completed the display case arrived. Boy are they nice looking!

911 Collection Update.

One side of the display case is finally finished! Took a bit of time but well worth it. Find myself reorganizing by type or color every now and then. Should I expand the collection of 911’s to the left case as well?

Rip Tide Pivot Cups.

All three of my Carver boards made a squeaking noise when turning. Especially, during cooler weather. A solution involves replacing the pivot cups with self lubricating pivot cups by Rip Tide. Replaced both of the larger boards pivot cups today and it was a PITA to remove the old cups. Required prying it with a flathead screw driver then yanking it out with a needle nose pliers. Difficult and unfortunately, ruins the old pivot cups.  New pivot cups seem to be working well, but I can still hear some creaking potentially coming from the washers and bushings during turns and pumps. Ordered some 100% silicone grease to apply to bushing to see if that helps!  

Carver Comparison.

Super Snapper Carver CX.

This little 28 incher is for the kids! Test rode it and found it to be snappy and very easy to pump. Quick acceleration.  Carvers are such good quality.